Thursday, 14 March 2013

KCA 3 up Team Time Trial 2013

On Sunday was the ever popular 3 up, this year very well run by TriSpirits Bob Burden and a host of helpers. The event far exceeded the limit of 120 riders ( 40 teams ) meaning 5 teams were on the reserve list, including 2 teams from Thornton, Russ, Richard and Brian 3rd reserve and Danny, Nick and Andy ( no previous time ) 5th reserve.

Don, John and myself got in, not because we were good, but had a time in the event. As it turned out 4 teams pulled out prior to the day meaning Russ, Richard and Brian got a ride, but sadly Danny, Nick and Andy didn't get the chance to don club colours.

As you well know Sunday was a very cold day with a biting north easterly wind making the leg from Brookland to Ashford hard, add to that a shower of rain on the higher part of the course making the roads feel greasy, conditions were not good.

From my point of view after a final team tactics talk with 2 minutes to go (in fact it was the only team talk ) we had a solid start, Don being the strongest had John and myself trying to cling on to his wheel, as the race went on we evened out a bit and had a good finish.
In true Thornton style we crossed the line all over the road having to overtake a team making their way to the start.

A finishing time of 1.06.49, down 4 minutes on last year but good enough to place us 17th. Russ, Richard and Brian fared slightly worse with Brian not feeling good on the day, finishing in 1.16.23, still a very good performance averaging nearly 20 mph.

The event was won by the Arctic Sram RT trio with a stunning time of 54.18, beating second placed Thanet RC by over 2 1/2 minutes.

Welcome

Thornton Road Club is a cycling club centred on Dymchurch and Romney Marsh while embracing the Kent coastal towns and villages situated between Folkestone and New Romney. Its members engage in the congeniality of regular cycling.